Computer systems and related technology affect many aspects of society. Indeed, the computer system's ability to process information has transformed the way we live and work. Computer systems now commonly perform a host of tasks (e.g., word processing, scheduling, and database management) that prior to the advent of the computer system were performed manually. More recently, computer systems have been coupled to one another and to other electronic devices to form both wired and wireless computer networks over which the computer systems and other electronic devices can transfer electronic data. As a result, many tasks performed at a computer system (e.g., voice communication, accessing electronic mail, controlling home electronics, Web browsing, and printing documents) include the exchange of electronic messages between a number of computer systems and/or other electronic devices via wired and/or wireless computer networks.
Computer systems and other electronic devices can have a variety of different configurations including, personal computers, laptop computers, hand-held devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, mobile telephones, PDAs, pagers, and the like. Many of these different types of computer systems and electronic devices can be configured to communicate wirelessly, such as, for example, in accordance with the I.E.E.E. 802.11 standards, General Packet Radio Service (“GPRS”), Global System for Mobile Communications (“GSM”), etc. Generally, wireless communication is beneficial since it allows a computer system or other electronic device maintain network connective when moved between different physical locations. For example, a mobile device, such as, for example, a mobile telephone or PDA, may be able to maintain connectivity to a GPRS network, when moved across town, between different cities, and even between different countries. Beneficially, the mobile devices can typically access data (e.g., electronic mail messages, Web based content, etc.) across wide geographical ranges.
Accessing data typically requires that a requesting computer system have access to an address (e.g., Internet Protocol (“IP”) address) of the computer system (e.g., server) that maintains the data. For example, a computer system requesting access to a Web page can be required to have access to a Uniform Resource Location (“URL”) used to located the Web page. When more sensitive data is made available through wired and/or wireless networks, security mechanisms are routinely used to protect the data from unauthorized access. For example, accessing electronic mail messages from an e-mail server can require a user to have an account with an e-mail server. To authenticate with the e-mail server, a computer system can transfer a user entered user-id and password to the electronic mail server.
Computer systems operating in a wired networking environment are to some extent inherently more secure than computer systems operating in a wireless networking environment. For example, alternate physical locations where a wired computer system can achieve network connectively can be limited. That is, to access data, a wired computer system may be required to be in a physical location that has a network tap in communication with a server that maintains the data. Further, there is a reduced risk of a wired computer system being lost. For example, it is extremely unlikely for a user to lose a desktop computer system that has a wired connection to a corporate Local Area Network (“LAN”). There is also a reduced risk of a wired computer system being stolen since many wired computer systems are maintained in physical locations that are not publicly accessible (e.g., inside corporate buildings, homes, etc).
Further, in a wired networking environment, other security mechanisms can be used to prevent unauthorized data access. These other security mechanisms can limit data access based on the physical location, domain, and/or electronic address of a computer system. For example, an administrator could limit access to sensitive research data to only those computer systems contained in a research facilitates that generates the research data. Thus, even if a wired computer system is stolen, it may be difficult, if not impossible, to gain unauthorized access to data from the wired network the wired computer system was previously connected to.
Further, in a wired networking environment, an administrator often has direct physical control over computer systems that are connected to the network (e.g., the wired computer systems are within a corporate building). Accordingly, the administrator can select and maintain the applications that are installed on the computer systems. In some environments, an administrator may chose to “lock down” the configuration of computer systems to ensure that the configuration of the computer systems remains appropriately secure for accessing data. When server side or network upgrades occur, the administrator can “unlock” the computer systems to install appropriate client side updates and can then again lock down the computer systems. However, this manual re-configuration of computer systems can be time consuming.
As a result, administrators often configure wired computer systems to receive policy updates without administrator intervention. From time to time, a server can “push” policy updates to wired computer systems to insure that wired computer systems adhere to specified security policies. In some environments, wired computer systems are divided into groups (or domains) that are administered as a unit with common rules and procedures (e.g., all computer systems in the corporate headquarters or all computer systems used by IT employees). Policies can be varied across different domains such that an administrator can vary the policies that are pushed to different wired computer systems.
Policy updates can be used to force a wired computer system to use a specified version of a protocol, to use a specified version of encryption algorithm, to use a specified key length, to prevent installation of custom applications, etc. A wired computer system's failure to implement these policies can prevent the wired computer system from accessing data (even if an appropriate user-id and password are submitted). Since an administrator often has more control over wired computer systems, the administrator can insure that wired computer systems include the appropriate resources (e.g., memory, software, etc.) for receiving and implementing policy updates.
Thus, it is possible to increase the security of private data by limiting data access to controlled wired computer systems. However, limiting data access to controlled wired computer systems is not always feasible. Computer system users typically desire available and flexible access to their data regardless of location and/or the type of computer system that will be used to access the data. For example, sales personnel and executives may frequently be out of the office on business travel and while traveling may need access to corporate data, such as, for example, e-mail and sales figures.
As result, many applications allow at least some general external (e.g., Web based) access to data. External access applications can be utilized by wired and wireless computer systems to access private and/or sensitive data. For example, a sales person executive may use a mobile device to connect to a corporate LAN through an external GPRS service provider (e.g., a mobile phone company) to access e-mail.
Unfortunately, allowing general external access to data puts the data at increased risk for unauthorized access, for example, from hackers or other malicious users. Even for authorized users, there is may be no way to control the security polices of computer systems that attempt general external access to data.
Wireless access can be particularly problematic, since computer systems operating in a wireless networking environment, such as, for example, mobile devices, are to some extent inherently less secure than computer systems operating in a wired networking environment. One difficulty is that a wireless device can typically achieve network connectivity from an extensive number of alternate physical locations. For example, a mobile telephone may have network connectively across a wide geographic area, such as, across an entire country or even access the entire Earth. Since wireless computer systems can be and often are moved between different physical locations, many of which are public, there is an increased risk of wireless computer systems being lost or stolen. For convenience, many mobile devices are of reduced size, further increasing the risk of loss or theft. For example, it is much more likely for a mobile phone to be lost or stolen than it is for a desktop computer system to be lost or stolen. Thus, there is an increased risk of a malicious user obtaining a computer system that was previously used to access data wirelessly.
Unfortunately, many security mechanisms used to prevent unauthorized in a wired networking environment are unavailable and/or are not feasible in wireless networking environment. For example, it may be unmanageable for an administrator to lock down the configuration of every mobile device (mobile phone, PDA, etc.) that utilizes external data access. It is difficult to place wireless computer systems, in domains since the access locations and access mechanisms may vary based on physical location. For example, access settings in Boston may be different than access setting in San Francisco.
Further, there is often no way for an administrator to determine what policy settings are implemented and/or supported by a wireless computer system. For example, a mobile device may support a standard protocol, such as, for example, HyperText Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”), but has no way to communicate policy settings (if they even exist) using the standard protocol. Some mobile devices may simply lack the resources (e.g., system memory, applications, etc.) to implement policy settings. Further, even if a mobile device does support various policy settings, there is typically no way for an administrator to remotely alter policy settings or enforce compliance with policy settings. Thus, an administrator may be forced to make a choice between preventing all external wireless access to data or opening up data to increased security risks associated with external wireless access.